FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Kosovo Police has begun collecting information regarding possible voter fraud in the South Mitrovica municipality, the Basic Prosecution Office of Mitrovica said.
“The police are gathering information regarding allegations of voter fraud in this location,” Valon Preteni, a spokesman for the Mitrovica Basic Prosecution, told Radio Free Europe.
The announcement comes two days after Kosovo held its first round of local elections. According to preliminary results, this municipality will go to a runoff.
The difference in votes between the first two candidates for mayor, Arian Tahiri of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and Faton Peci of the Vetëvendosje Movement, is very small.
For this municipality, there were discrepancies between the initial polls, published immediately after the closing of the polling stations, and the preliminary results published by the Central Election Commission. Therefore, allegations of possible voter fraud subsequently emerged in the public opinion.
Kosovo's acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who is also the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, called on the judiciary to launch investigations into the exit polls published for the elections the day after the elections. However, Kurti was criticized by members of civil society for this statement.
The legal advisor at the European Center for Press and Media Freedom, Flutura Kusari, wrote on Facebook that Kurti's statement that the publication of the polls was interference in the electoral process is "incorrect", arguing that they were published after the voting had ended.
Kusari called on the prosecution authorities to "stay as far away as possible from the idea of investigating reports and companies that conduct exit polls."
She said that these polling companies should pay "credibly, just as the moderators of the shows that have provided us with incorrect information should pay with credibility, especially if they hire the same companies again."
Otherwise, the CEC has said that it believes that it will conclude the process of counting all votes for the local elections this week.
According to current results, 21 municipalities have elected their mayors in the first round, while 17 others will go to the runoff on November 9. /REL
Lini një Përgjigje